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Have you ever tried to convince someone of a good idea you truly believed was good but the other person didn’t believe you? It could have been that your idea didn’t sound very good. It could be that your idea wasn’t developed enough. Or it could be that you didn’t have a clear sense of purpose. There’s a quote in the book The Presentation Secrets of Steve Jobs by Gregory Burns that says, “A person can have the greatest idea in the world-completely different and novel- but if that person can’t convince enough other people, it doesn’t matter.” People like Steve Jobs or Rae Ann Silva had to get people to believe in them and what they were selling before they became successful. Want to know how? Keep reading to find out.
Isn’t it infectious when you meet someone who is really excited about a particular subject? If you’ve ever been to a convention for any hobby, you can see enthusiasm everywhere. It’s this kind of contagious enthusiasm that draws people in. Inc.com writer Josh Spiro, gives a step by step guide on how to make your employees enthusiastic and to keep them that way. He says, “Workers need to have a sense of how their roles interweave with the larger goals of the company in order to take pride in the importance of their work and to do the best possible job on every project.” When you’re genuinely excited about your vision, whatever that may be, others will be able to see it and they’ll want to take part in it especially if they know what part to take.
When you have a vision that contradicts the status quo, it is imperative for you to believe in your vision. Not just to believe that your vision will be financially successful, but to also believe in your vision no matter what other people may think. Dr. Roger H. Hull, president of Union College and founder of the Help Yourself Foundation, wrote in Huffngton Post “Persistence in doing what you think is right is key.” If you consistently believe what you are doing is write, then you will rally other people to your cause.
In order to have a vision people will want to get behind, you need to love what you do. That advice most oftentimes comes from a shallow and at times unrealistic place, but your vision doesn’t have to be tied to moving away from your current career. You can still love what you do and have a vision on improving the current state you are in. Entrepreneur.com features an article that says, “Here’s the truth: you should love what you do. Not do what you love. The difference between the two is that the latter is often unrealistic, not in demand and comprised of decisions made with emotions.” Many innovators, including Steve Jobs, didn’t grow up necessarily dreaming of making an iPod, but instead wanted to change the world. Ipods may not have been what Steve Jobs loved but changing the world was and so he went after it.
Money is a great motivating factor to get someone to do something but money is fleeting and can be easily taken. True desire is not. Entrepreneur.com writer Steve Tobak says, “They [great entrepreneurs] don’t whine about how hard they work for peanuts. They just do it. And because they’re passionate about what they do and focused like a laser beam, the money eventually comes, big-time.” People tend to follow their passions vigorously and relentlessly. If you are truly passionate about a vision, others will see that and will find a way to make it come true.
As venture capitalist Josh Linker writes in his article “Passion-Not Money- Should Drive Your Business,” his passions are “helping others become more creative and helping entrepreneurs build great companies.” This discovery led him to become a venture capitalist. Because he has these two passions in his heart, he will push forward in his work. People need to see that level of commitment and drive when hearing about your vision. Do you actually care about what you’re selling? If not, you may want to rethink.
It’s important to remember things change. People change, situations change, the whole world changes. Because of this it’s equally important to remember that your vision will change. It has to. Whether to adjust to the current situation or to be tweaked to fit what people actually need from it, your vision will change. Ph.D. Randall S. Hansen recommends coming up with a career vision plan. By mapping out where you intend for your vision to go and what you intend to do to make that happen, you can have an outline for your future trajectory.
If you don’t take away anything else from this article, take away this. Think of yourself as a carrier of the truth. You have a truth that you believe will help the world, like an evangelist. What do evangelists do? They preach what they believe to be the truth with the utmost passion and believe. This kind of fervent belief draws people in and gets them believing as well. If you can think of yourself as an evangelist of sorts, you will draw in more people. In The Presentation Secrets of Steve Jobs, author Carmine Gallo says that Jobs had a “messianic purpose” and because of that purpose, people were changed by him.
Don’t be afraid to make your vision happen. Know that trials will come, as they always do for the greats, but keep your vision in mind. Then with some luck and hard work, you can see your vision come true as well.
